Tan Sri Dato Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin

Reaching the unreached in Malaysia through education

The desire to attain the best education in life is a common aspiration that binds all people together.
Education is a universal dream, one that grants transformative seeds of opportunity to every child. It is the
dream of a young girl who pores over her books by candlelight and carefully tucks them into her bag for
school the next day. It is the dream of a little boy who falls asleep to the humming rhythm of a city, and the
same dream of children who wake up to the sound of boats returning from the early morning catch.
In Malaysia today, children and adults enjoy access to education as part of the legacy formed more than 50
years ago by the founders of our country. Shortly after independence, the Government passed the 1952
Education Ordinance, resolving to honour education as a basic right. This legislation laid the groundwork for
strong government commitment to investing in education, which was further enhanced by the countrys
ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1995. Learning in Malaysia was democratized,
ensuring that all children have the right to schooling, regardless of their sex, social or economic background,
resident or HIV status. By providing free and compulsory primary education, as well as 11 years of universal
education, we are turning the spirit of the Convention into a reality.
Government investment in education
Our forefathers recognized the singular importance of quality education in meeting the development needs
of the country, and shaped their policies around the idea that when every child has an education the entire
nation prospers. By committing continuous and substantial government expenditure on education, we have
worked tirelessly to lift children out of the shadows of disparity.
Public investment in schools has been a key factor in successfully reducing poverty from the high levels
seen in the 1970s to the negligible level prevalent today. In 1970, one third of Malaysias population aged six
and over had never attended school. Today, Malaysia is close to achieving the second Millennium
Development Goal of universal primary education, with almost all school-age children completing six years
of learning.
Likewise, the Government has worked towards ending gender disparity by ensuring that women have
access not only to school but also to the full range of business and political employment enjoyed by their
male counterparts. These efforts complement the Conventions vision that every childs individual
personality, talents and abilities should be developed to the fullest.
Equality of opportunity
Our goals in meeting the requirements of the Convention are to provide equity in education, regardless of
whether a child is from a minority group, has special needs or comes from a vulnerable community. One way
we are contributing to this effort is to ensure parents and families have resources to enable their childrens
full engagement in school. Poorer families are assisted through support programmes that help with uniforms
and shoes, scholarships, textbook loan schemes, tuition vouchers, supplementary feeding and school milk
programmes, school health facilities and residential schools.
While we have made great progress in achieving universal enrolment, the more elusive challenge now
facing the country is guaranteeing access to quality education for the most vulnerable children. In addition to
building classrooms and putting children in them, educating disenfranchised children requires identifying
disparities in childrens abilities and socioeconomic status. Addressing these concerns involves
acknowledging the importance of self-accessed, self-directed and self-paced learning.

Overcoming disparity
Malaysia is charting a new path by using information and communication technology (ICT) to make
education relevant and attractive in an increasingly globalized world. More than half of all schools across
Malaysia currently have computer labs and nearly every school is equipped with Internet access, courtesy of
the Governments SchoolNet project.
Developing ICT infrastructure, however, is only the first step. Our broader vision is to awaken and nurture
the desire for 21st century knowledge and skills, and to transform the education system towards a Smart
School model that utilizes technology in learning. We are integrating this approach into a student-centred
system that stimulates thinking, creativity and caring by teaching ICT literacy in primary and secondary
schools. Additionally, we have introduced holistic education through 88 pilot Smart Schools and by equipping
special-needs schools with computers and courseware for the hearing and vision impaired.
The endeavour for technologically advanced education is not without its challenges, and staying on the
forefront of infrastructure development and cutting-edge technology, as well as providing access and equity
to advanced learning tools, requires significant resources. One method for overcoming these hurdles is
through strategic partnerships with the private sector. These collaborations not only engage the community
but also create exciting opportunities for students to expand their horizons beyond traditional academic
offerings.
One such project the Government has undertaken involves working with Malaysias first cable TV provider,
Astro, to bring the world to children living in the remotest interiors of East Malaysia. With this partnership, we
are beaming learning content through satellites and giving these children the opportunity to interact with
science and technology through mobile learning trucks.
As the world grows increasingly connected by technology and the transfer of ideas, comprehensive
education is becoming a reality for children across the globe. But much remains to be done to ensure that
regardless of age, sex, race, ethnic origin or socioeconomic status, all children are given the opportunity to
learn.
In Malaysia, education is no longer a distant dream, but a promise we have made to every child. Drawing on
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we will press on in our efforts to care for the most vulnerable and
isolated of children. Our hope is to build a better future for the children of our country and, in turn, to see
them build a better future for our world.